The View From The Peanut Gallery

By Rep. Robbie Wills

I was lucky enough this evening to have a "Hall Pass," which gave me entry to the Pepsi Center. You are no doubt wondering by now the difference between a Hall Pass and a Floor Pass. Actually, I have seen at least six different flavors of convention passes and there is really a hierarchy of rank as far as your access to the convention hall. A Perimeter Pass will get you through the outer ring of security about five blocks around the convention hall, but no further. An Arena Pass will get you through the metal detectors and inside the front door, but no further. (the security line - if you can call it that - is pictured at left. It was about a 45-minute wait to get through the checkpoints) A Hall Pass will get you a seat in the upper deck, first come first serve, with absolutely no standing room - not even a peek in from an entry ramp. A Floor Pass - reserved mostly for Delegates and other officials, gets you in the lower bowl of the hall and the actual floor of the Pepsi Center - the most prized credential in my book. I've also seen Press Passes and Staff Passes, but really have no idea how much access those folks have. So, me and my Hall Pass were on our own to find a suitable perch to watch the convention. Every man and woman for themselves, you know.

After a visit to the DLCC base of operations behind the podium (with a nice view of the backstage area) I made my way up to the upper deck and managed to see Govs. Strickland and Patrick's speeches from the nosebleed section of the hall. The walkways inside the arena were absolutely jam-packed. Standing in the crowds, you tend to overhear people speaking their minds. In general, most of the comments in the upper altitudes were from Clinton supporters expressing hope that Sen. Clinton could bring the two camps together with a very clear statement of her support for Sen. Obama. One Clinton delegate said she wanted to be "released" so she could commit herself to the Obama campaign in her home state. ( A timely score of a ticket to a slightly lower, more private viewing area gave me a better standing-room-only view of Hillary's address.) When Sen. Clinton took the stage and very clearly and effectively, from my perspective, made the case for Barack Obama, many convention-goers in my vicinity whooped and hollered, and seemed to give the speech high marks.

Finally, the Arkansas Party, dedicated in memory of our late Chairman Bill Gwatney, was held at a venue in downtown Denver after the convention closed and was a real "who's who" of Arkansas Democratic politics. No, I haven't slept since 5:00 this morning and quite frankly can't explain why I'm still up. In fact...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.